'Inland port' will turn Upstate city into business hub

An Upstate city will soon be a hub that functions much like a port, despite being many miles inland.

The South Carolina Ports Authority said its goal is to make South Carolina businesses stronger.

The Port of Charleston is well known, but soon an inland port in Greer will play a big role in big business.

Jim Newsome, the executive director of the S.C. Ports Authority, was in the Upstate Thursday to spread the word about the project bringing an inland port to Greer.

He said it's a done deal.

The inland port will directly service the Port of Charleston and will be a distribution hub where companies like BMW will use the existing Norfolk Southern rail lines to move goods.

"It only works if it is overnight, so a train leaving here at 8 p.m. gets to Charleston at 5 a.m., or a train leaving Charleston at 8 p.m. gets to Greer at 5 a.m. And that really mirrors truck service and that is the only way it works," Newsome said.

Newsome said the goal is to have it up and running by this time next year.

WYFF News 4 has not been told the number of jobs the inland port will create.

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